2020 Fat Bear Week champion- 747
NPS Photo/N. Boak

September 29, 2021 - Fat Bear Week- an annual celebration of success. All bears are winners but only one true champion will emerge. Held over the course of seven days and concluding on the Fat Bear Tuesday, people chose which bear to crown in this March-Madness style bracket where bears are pitted against each other for your vote.

Why fat matters

From its humble beginnings of Fat Bear Tuesday in 2014 to over 640,000 votes cast last year in 2020, celebrating fat bears and Katmai's healthy ecosystem has since become a tradition. For bears, fat equals survival. Each winter, bears enter the den where they will not eat or drink until they emerge in spring. During this time, they may lose up to one-third of their body weight as they rely solely on their fat reserves. Survival depends on eating a year's worth of food in six months.

At Katmai, bears are drawn to the large number of salmon readily available from roughly late June through September. Salmon have long since been the lifeblood of the area, supporting Katmai's people, bears and other animals. Fat bears exemplify the richness of this area, a wild region that is home to more brown bears than people and the largest, healthiest runs of sockeye salmon left on the planet.

How it works

Rangers create a March-Madness style bracket pitting individual bears against each other. The public then votes to see who will advance each round. Voting takes place over several days on explore.org's website. People may vote using any criteria they see fit. In the end, one bear will reign supreme.

2021 Fat Bear Week

This year, Fat Bear Week starts September 29 and concludes on Fat Bear Tuesday, October 5. In addition to voting during this week-long tournament, there will be a series of online chats on explore.org featuring Mike Fitz, explore.org's resident naturalist, and rangers from Katmai to learn more about the individual bears and Katmai's healthy ecosystem. Throughout the season, you can also tune in to the explore.org bear cams which offer unprecedented access to the lives the bears of Brooks River. There are also special live events on a variety of topics hosted weekly as well.

Be sure to check out the slider comparison photos of this year's competitors.

Fat Bear Junior!

And new this year: the FAT BEAR JUNIOR competition, September 23 and 24. Mark your calendars when four chubby cubbies compete for the chance to advance to the main bracket and compete against the more senior burly bears of the Brooks River.

Check out this year's competitors and decide who should be crowned the first Fat Bear Junior Champion.

Calendar Lineup

Don't forget to check our calendar for a lineup of live bear cam events.

• Fat Bear Junior bracket reveal - September 20
• Fat Bear Junior Competition - September 23 and 24 (winner crowned on September 24)
• Fat Bear Week bracket reveal - September 27
• Fat Bear Week - September 29 - October 5 (winner crowned on Fat Bear Tuesday, October 5)

Fat Bear Week in the Classroom

Looking to bring Fat Bear Week into the classroom? Check out some of these extension activities from Katmai as well as the explore.org curriculum.

Past champions

2014 - 480 Otis
2015 - 409 Beadnose
2016 - 480 Otis
2017 - 480 Otis
2018 - 409 Beadnose
2019 - 435 Holly
2020 - 747
2021 - ??? Only you can decide the champion.
Source: NPS